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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Question from Kathy - Requests from England

Does anybody want anything from England? I am leaving on June 22 for three weeks there. My main purpose is to go to as many of the Henry VIII exhibits that I can make in London and day trips to Greenwich, Portsmouth, Canterbury, Windsor, Hampton Court, and especially Lincoln/Gainsborough to attend Steven Gunn's lecture on Charles Brandon at Gainsborough Old Hall on July 10.

I have already promised Lara that I would take a picture of the plaque on the model of the Tower of London that is on display in the White Tower so we can see what date they say it represents as well as to take copious notes on the description of the wall mural in the Vistors' Center at the Maritime Museum in Greenwich that I got a picture of the last time I was there. (I also plan to harass them them to make that mural available as a wall poster. I've never wanted a poster of anything more than I want that one!)

Does anybody else have any requests as far as pictures/brochures/information or anything else I can reasonably get? I'll be more than happy to try to help. This includes postcards. If anybody wants a specific postcard from anywhere (including the National Portrait Gallery) ask Lara for email addy and tell me what you want. I'll try my best to get it for you.

29 comments:

I would love anything on Anne Boleyn, like maybe a pamphlet or something that has some interesting reading. I have all the books on her, but something you think would be interesting. That would be awesome!! Thank you!!

Robert, as I said in my original post, I will be based in London (I'm actually staying at the Morgan Hotel right next to the British Museum) but so far I have daytrips planned to Greenwich, Windsor, Hampton Court, Canterbury, and Portsmouth. I also have an overnight trip to Lincoln specifically to hear Steven Gunn's lecture on Charles Brandon. And these aren't definite at all, but I may possibly try to fit in trips to Bury St. Edmund and Eltham.

OOooOO you're soo lucky Kathy. I would love a postcard of Anne's Hever portrait if possible. If you take pictures, and if you plan on going to Hever, I'd love a picture of that castle. That's it, Anne's Hever portrait is my favorite, it looks nothing like the NPC's of her, but to me, it's how I picture her.

tudorrose, I said I was going to as many of the Henry VIII exhibits as I can in London and that includes the British Library. That said, you live in England, don't you? I would think you would have far more opportunity than I would to get information from there.

As for the rest of the requests, I'll look for material at the other locations to see what I can get.

Kathy, if you want to meet up with a local who also works at the Tower and Hampton Court, you are more than welcome to drop me an email. If I'm available on a day you visit, I'm always happy to show you around a little bit and tell you some of the stories. Depends on schedules etc, but if I can make it work and you want to, you're very welcome to let me know. Jo x

Joanna, it would be interesting to meet up if we could arrange it. Ask Lara for my email addy and we can try to arrange it.

Elizabeth M, I posted about the flower earlier today but it seems to have gotten lost unless Lara hasn't gotten to it yet. I'll repost tomorrow if necessary.

Everybody, it looks like postcards, maybe from the NPG, are going to be the way to go. Of course, I will need a name and address to mail them to and I know you don't want to post that publicly, so just ask Lara for my email addy and email me there telling me what you would prefer if you have a preference.

Jennifer, no, I'm not going to Hever and I've never been an Anne Boleyn fan (for the record, I don't think much of Katherine of Aragon either), but I can probably get you an AB postcard at the NPG if you like.

Elizabeth M, the message was yes, it is barely possibly to put a flower on Anne's grave. The only way you can get into St. Peter ad Vincula is to either go to religious services there or to take the yeoman warder tour. On the tour, the church is the last place you go, and they try to usher you out fairly quickly, but there are enough people there that I could kind of slide over and leave a flower on Anne's grave before I had to leave. Of course it would have to be a long-lasting flower (like baby's breath maybe) and I wouldn't be able to take a picture because that is forbidden in the church.

Elizabeth M, I have been advised by those in the know not to attempt to place a flower on Anne's grave (or anybody else's there) that that could be construed as littering and could also be considered a safety issue as somebody could conceivably trip over the flower and be injured. If caught, I could be fined or kicked out of the tower. In light of that, and as I'm really a fan of Anne's anyway, I think I'll have to beg off on this request.

Louise, I'm taking a notebook computer with me and am going to try to put up pics and some commentary for my facebook friends, so I'll post a link here to anything I do get up. Nice that you share a birthday with Henry! I share my birthday (March 18) with Mary Tudor Brandon.

As for the flowers thing, what you can do is (if you wish place them on the memorial. We often get people doing that...mind you, if you're not a fan of hers anyway, you probably wouldn't want to bother! ;) Jo x

I have but one request: Come back here and post everything you can remember about Gunn's lecture, please! :-)

I totally envy you for getting to listen to him! I can't get a hold of is Brandon biography for a reasonable price and I would ask him so many questions he'd never get out of that lecture hall again! *g*

Hi KathyI'm thinking you'll be on your way soon, so best wishes for a safe journey. We look forward to seeing you at Gainsborough Old Hall - the Steven Gunn lecture looks like being in the Lower Great Chamber, where Henry had to sleep when he visited because he was not sufficiently mobile to negotiate the tower stairs. Look forward to showing you round.

Hope you get to meet up with Jo in London - what a kind offer and a great opportunity.

Jennifer -For you and anyone else interested in photos of Hever Castle...

I just went and stayed there a few weeks ago and I have a collection of photos from my day at the castle of you are interested.I'll put them into a post on my blog: www.TheTudorBlog.blogspot.comor if you are interested in having them emailed to you or placed in an album elsewhere, just leave me a comment or message me on my blog.

Jennifer, sorry it took me a while, but I emailed you. Send me an address and what you would like a post card of. I'll see what I can find of Anne Boleyn at the National Portrait Gallery.

feuerrabe, I think Gunn's lecture is the one thing I am looking forward to most on the trip! I know what you mean about the cost of his book being beyond reason. I was lucky to snag a copy before the price got so insane. If I'm lucky enough to get to talk to him, I plan on asking about the book and see if there are any plans to reissue it. A paperback edition reasonably priced that normal people could afford would be nice! The book really isn't a biography though. It's his dissertation and is more concerned with how regional political networks were set up in those days. It's interesting, but I think somebody needs to write a good biography of Brandon. I tried to talk Alison Weir into it when I met her in February. She seemed interested but is very much at the mercy of her publisher who seems primarily interested in Anne Boleyn.

Marilyn R, I'm leaving late Monday night for England. I've been in touch with Jo and we are making some plans for what I think will be exciting excursions! Can't tell you how much I am looking forward to meeting you too!

Kathy, I don't know if/when you'll see this but I'll give it a shot. I e-mailed Laura my e-mail address for her to give to you. You mentioned a facebook. You can find me on there as well. with my e-mail address, I have no qualms giving anyone here my e-mail so, it's: beatnikkittie@yahoo.com